T'was a rough week for road teams when all through the league, not a club was safe, not even the Steelers. Week 16 was chock full of upsets, most definitely a result of Saint Nick granting the wishes of a few long-forgotten franchises at the tail end of the holiday season. As of Monday morning, only five away squads had stolen wins from their hosts; it's no surprise that as the weather turns colder, home-field advantage stiffens. However, such road failures only highlight and isolate the best performances of the weeks.
Greatness on the Road winner
Kirk Cousins
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What a turnaround this year has been for Cousins, and the entire Redskins franchise, for that matter. Coming off of a turbulent 4-12 season with Robert Griffin III under center, coach Jay Gruden made a controversial offseason decision to swap QBs and start the mild-mannered Cousins who had been waiting in the wings for three campaigns. Despite a rocky start -- 6 TDs, 8 INTS through the first six games -- Cousins turned it on late, thanks to the return of DeSean Jackson, and led the Redskins toward an NFC East title, coining viral catchphrases along the way.
Cousins saved his best for last, putting together a 365-yard, four-touchdown performance in "lovely" Philadelphia on Thursday Night Football: Saturday Edition to clinch the division. The Washington gunslinger tore up the leaky Philly secondary and spread the ball around nicely to his varied targets, finding breakout tight end Jordan Reed (twice in the first quarter), Pierre Garcon and Chris Thompson in the end zone. Amazingly, Cousins leads the league in completion percentage and is a sleeper -- albeit a deep sleeper -- for league MVP. What's not to like?
Runners up
William Hayes
On a vaunted Rams defensive line anchored by Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn and Chris Long, it was Hayes who put up the monster stats in St. Louis' shocking 23-17 win over the Seahawks at the CLink. Hayes totaled three sacks, four tackles for loss and nine combined tackles, leading a pass rush that furiously hurried Russell Wilson and disrupted Seattle's offensive operation throughout the day.
DeAndre Hopkins
Quick, somebody check the radiation levels in the Nashville metropolitan area; the Titans just got Nuked! Hopkins made it obviously clear in Week 16 that it doesn't matter who is throwing him the ball -- this Sunday, it happened to be Brandon Weeden. He's going to put up monster numbers and outmuscle your secondary anyway. Hopkins' super catches and 117-yard, one-touchdown showing paved the way for an easy, breezy Texans win in Tennessee. Fun fact: Hopkins has now caught touchdowns from four Texans quarterbacks this season.
